Howard hasn’t been the classiest player in the last year for the way he left the Orlando Magic or even how he’s handled himself since being on the Lakers. Having said that, it’s probably not easy to go from being the star of the show in one city, to playing second fiddle in another.

Furthermore, he hasn’t fully recovered from back surgery and he’s been playing with a torn labrum. No way he’s 100% .. He’s still playing like an absolute beast tho; Superman is good for 16 points and 12 rebounds a game. (He had 20 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks in tonight’s win over New Orleans). But any athlete understands how frustrating it is to be injured and not perform at the highest level.

But no matter how frustrated you are, it’s better not to show it; especially not to the media at the expense of the old team.

Various outlets reported Wednesday that Jameer Nelson, Howard’s former teammate and point guard in Orlando, had some interesting comments for the All-Star center. But here’s why..

Howard made headlines Tuesday for saying that the Magic, his former team, was “full of people nobody wanted.”

To which Nelson said in reply:

“At some point, when are you gonna as a man, when are you going to take ownership and stay out of the media in professional manner? I would be less of a man to comment on certain things that people comment on about me and my teammates. We had a great run as a group, as core guys, and he was part of it and for him to say things about anybody in a negative manner, that’s up to him.”